It was one of those mornings as I hobbled out of bed for church. My foot was aching from a running injury. I was running behind and in my haste to get the bread machine started, I knocked over a beautiful piece of ceramic pottery from our vacation in Hawaii. I stood in disbelief as I saw it laying broken on the counter. I quickly glued it back together and tried to tell myself it wasn’t a big error, but it was. To top it all off, I couldn’t find the skirt I wanted to wear, and the bread machine was making an awful noise. I stopped to fix the bread machine not realizing this would reset the timer thus negating the reason I had rushed in the first place. The lost time now made the break in my favorite souvenir even worse because I had rushed to get the bread started for nothing. I couldn’t figure out the delayed start feature on the oven in the rental house and by now my aching foot ached even worse, I was in tears as I grabbed my makeup, a snack for my youngest, and hopped into the van. As I got my makeup out, I realized the passenger side of the van had no mirror! I was over the day before it had much of a start. I was irritable, in pain, and my precious sourvenir now looked like a poorly glued yard sale find.
Have you ever been there?
The harder you work to overcome your bad attitude and fussiness
the worse it gets?
We made it to church and I was very happy to see the Pastor waiting at the door as my kids plopped out of the van and darted in the rain to the front door. I breathed a sigh of relief. I love our church and the kindness which the family there treats us. We filled in our pew and waited for the service to begin. I sat at the end of the pew getting my youngest settled when a sweet older woman came and started talking to me. She asked questions about where we lived, and she told me where she lived. She fondly informed me that she was one of six kids as she smiled at mine. She went on to tell me that she and her siblings were now spread out across the United States. Time and job transfers had taken them to different states. She missed them. She only had one child even though she had always wanted a big family. She still wishes that she could have given her son a sibling. She shared how she and her sisters get together once a year, but unfornutaly this year they weren’t able to.
She had a beautiful face and spoke with such a warm heart.
Soon some others came up to say hello to our family and sadly our conversation ended. I had noticed that while talking with her, my irritability had left. My poor attitude had been replaced with one that was thankful. My foot still ached and my pottery was still broken, but her conversation had given me perspective. There filling the pew from one end to the other, I had all of my children with me and a husband who loves us. I was part of a body of believers that cared. I had a Heavenly Father that loved me and cares about my needs. I have a roof over my head and food for the day. I am thankful that God, in his loving kindness, didn’t use harsh ways to discipline my poor attitude that morning. Thankfully He sent a sweet saint to show me what was really important and that I was truly blessed to be in this season of life. While the rest of my day still had it’s problems – like reazling that only half the lights on our pre-lit Christmas tree worked, and messing up our take out order that caused a big wait in the drive through – I made it through the day with a more thankful heart. I went to bed more appreciative of what I had in my life and for the lady, whose name I never got, who sweetly showed me what I had.
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